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AMP Research – December 2004 Selling Bush was a tough job for his supporters Supporters of President Bush said that his actions are designed to promote a safer world for everybody and that the president still has a commitment to the interests of Arab Americans. "I think that at the end of the day, what you'll find is that they respect and appreciate the fact that he has become so personally engaged in the community," said Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot, who represented the president at the Arab American Institute's National Leadership Conference. Conference participants decried Mr. Bush's foreign policy, particularly toward Iraq and the Middle East peace process. Excessive favoritism toward Israel at the expense of the Palestinians is a frequent protest. In August 2004, President Bush's Arab-American supporters, including veteran Republican activists like Washington attorney and former Reagan administration official George Salem, admitted that they were facing a difficult task in asking the community to support a record defined by the war in Iraq, unflinching support for Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon and the controversial law enforcement policies of Attorney-General John Ashcroft. Yet they insisted that a deeper look at the president's record could change minds. In particular, they say that Bush has appointed more Arab-Americans and Muslims to senior positions than any other president. These include Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, presidential personnel aide Dina Powell, former head of the Office of Management and Budget Mitch Daniels, General Counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and the head of the National Institutes of Health Elias Zerhouni. In addition to this list of appointees, Bush's supporters argued that Arab-Americans have the same concerns as most other American constituencies. Since they believe that Bush has performed well over-all, they feel Arab-Americans can be convinced to either overlook specific concerns or rethink their generally critical assessments of his policies. Talking-points for Arab-American supporters issued by the Bush-Cheney campaign, cited Bush's repeated condemnations of post-Sept. 11, 2001, hate crimes, saying: "The president demonstrated his true character when he immediately spoke out in defense of Arab-Americans and asked the rest of America not to harm the Arab-American community." They also underlined that Bush "is the first president to call for an independent and democratic Palestine while in office." Another talking point said that "because the United States and our coalition helped to end the violent regime of Saddam Hussein, and because the United States is helping to raise a peaceful democracy in its place, 25 million Iraqis are free and America is safer," a claim hardly met sympathy outside some sections of the Iraqi-American community. Bush supporters face tough sell with Arab, Muslim Americans by Hussain Ibish - The Daily Star Lebanon - August 28, 2004 ISNA convention A pro-Bush booth at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) annual convention, in Chicago in Sept. 2004, stirred anger among attendees who believed the president's actions since Sept. 11, 2001, have hurt more innocent Muslims than terrorists. They stop abruptly when they saw the 5-foot-tall photo of President Bush, with ``muslimsforbush.com'' above his head. Then come the outbursts. ``Disgusting,'' said one onlooker. ``Take that down,'' said another. ``I think President Bush has misled not only the United States, but the world,'' said Noor Maciael, an educator who called the booth ``disgusting'' and planned to vote for Democrat John Kerry. ``He has put us in a situation where the whole world is hating this country.'' The display was funded by Pakistani-American Hassan family who had also created the group ``Muslims for Bush.'' Seeme Hasan said that she and her husband Malik, a Colorado physician who earned his wealth in the health care industry, have donated more than $1 million to Bush and Republican causes since the 2000 campaign:``The reason we are doing this is that Muslims don't have a lobbyist. We want to be there. We are going to give contributions at the highest level.'' Media reports Muslims for Bush website In August 2004, a Seema Hasan and her son Muhammad Ali Hasan family established The MuslimsForBush website: www.muslimsforbush.com. American Muslims at Republican Convention Muslims’ overall presence had been low-key at the Republican Party Convention in New York in August 2004. This year’s convention included 15 Arab/Muslim American delegates. Arab-American delegates from eight states were elected to represent their states, which include the battleground states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. Arab-American delegates at the Democratic National Convention represented 25 states. Moments later, Zainab al-Suwaij, an Iraqi-born American, spoke out forcefully in support of the Bush administration's war to topple Saddam Hussein. Zainab Al-Suwaij, the Executive Director of the Boston-based American Islamic Congress, fled to the United States from her native city of Basra after the 1991 gulf war. In April of 2003, Al-Suwaij, a self-described survivor of the failed Iraqi uprising against former President Saddam Hussein in 199, met with President Bush in the White House as part of an Iraqi-American delegation. According to the Arab-American Institute, Republican Arab-American party leaders presented at the convention included Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, New Hampshire Sen. John E. Sununu, Illinois Congressman Ray LaHood, California Congressman Darrell Issa, former Director of the Office of Budget and Management Mitch Daniels, former New Hampshire Gov. and Chief of Staff for President George H.W. Bush John H. Sununu, and Westchester County New York District Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. The Republican party convention was also the venue for several Arab-American organizations protests, some of which were given permits and others were not. New York City officials had granted permits for demonstrations to groups including the Middle East Peace Coalition for demonstrations, prayer vigils and rallies. http://www.ampolitics.amuslimvoice.org/html/am_muslims_at_rnc.html |